Hair-ctjeler



A. A. WEST.

HAIR cuRLERf APPLICATION, FILED MAY 25, 1920- 1,381,775. Patented June 14,1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS A. WEST, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, TO DAVID L. SHORT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I-IAIR-CURLER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 14 192 Application filed May 25, 1920. Serial No. 384,030.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUcUsTUs A. Wnsr, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Hair-Curlers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to hair curlers of the type disclosed in my former U. S. Patents Nos. 785,844, March 28, 1905, and 1,082,784, December 30, 1913.

In the curlers described in the aforesaid patents, an objectionable feature is a tendency of the curler under certain conditions to spring open, and the object of my present invention is to provide a positive lock for preventing this accidental opening.

A further object is to provide a locking means which will not interfere with the free sliding of the hair from the arm upon which it is wound.

In the attached drawing:

Figure 1, is a view in perspective showing my improved curler in the open position and illustrating the details of the locking means;

Fig. 2, is a view in perspective of my curler in the closed position and containing a lock of hair; and

Figs. 3 and 4:, are views of the end of the short arm of the curler illustrating modified forms of locking means.

With reference to the drawings, my curler comprises two resilient arms 1 and 2, joined together at one end and provided with means for temporarily securing the free outer ends together. In the present instance the arms are made integral, and at the point of juncture are rounded outwardly in the manner clearly illustrated in the drawings, in which the said rounded portion is indicated by the reference numeral 3. The arm 2 has a greater effective length than the, arm 1, and.

the outer end of said arm 2 is bent inwardly and backwardly upon itself, thereby forming a hook 4, under which the extremity of the arm 1 is adapted to be retained when the curler is closed. A notch 5, semicircular in the present instance, is formed in the turnedin end edge of the arm 2, and the outer portion of the arm 1 is, in the present instance, tapered so that the said outer end may occupy the said notch for the purpose of preventing lateral displacement of the arm.

In using these curlers, it is the common practice to Wind a lock of hair around the arm 1 Of the curler, as clearly shown in Flg.

2, the free end of the said arm then being inserted beneath the hooked end at of the arm 2, where it is prevented from lateral displacement by the notch 5 into which the outer reduced portion of the arm 1 is adapted to fit. The hair thus clampedbetween the armsbows the latter outwardly, as shown in the drawng, and the natural resiliency of the arms is suflic ent to prevent the hair slipping and unwlnding from the arm.

It is apparent that excessive bowing of the arms outwardly must result in the withdrawal of the end of the arm 1 through the notch 5 from under the edge of the hooked end 4 of the arm 2, and the capacity of the curler is accordingly limited. In my present invention, I provide means whereby the accidental disengagement in the manner described of the free ends of the arms is prevented, said means consisting of an enlargement of the outer end of the arm 1, said onlargement preferably being laterally of and substantially in the plane of the said arm and being sufiiciently large to preclude the posslbility of its passing through the notch 5. The provision of this locking means results in a material increase in the capacity of the curler.

In the preferred form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 1, the enlargement 6 is substantially round in form, this form having been found to offer practically no interference to the free slipping of the coil of hair from the arm after the curling operation has been completed.

In Figs. 3 and et, I have illustrated modifications of my invention, the enlargement shown in Fig. 1 being formed by first slitting the arm slightly at the end and turning the toes 7 and 8 thus formed outwardly.

It is clear that an enlargement such as I have described and illustrated will prevent the end of the arm 1 from moving outwardly through the notch 5, as is the tendency when the arms are bowed in the manner stated, while continued bowing of the arms merely tends to make the locking action more positive.

I claim:

1. A hair curler comprising two resilient arms joined together at one end, the outer end of one of said arms being turned inwardly and backwardly to form a hook under which the outer end of the said other arm may be inserted, the end-edge of said hooked arm being notched for the reception of said other arm, and an enlargement at the outer end of said last named arm, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A hair curler comprising tWo fiat,resi1ient arms joined together at one end thereof, the outer end of one of said arms being turned inwardly and backwardly to form a hook under which the outer end of the other arm may be inserted, the end edge of said 10 hooked arm being notched for the reception of said other arm; and an enlargement at the outer end of the last named arm and in the same plane therewith, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

AUGUSTUS A. WEST. 

